Entangled in affairs of everyday life.

[Leonardo Von]

On 9/3/2015 at 9:07 AM, Pamelasv said:

1 Timothy 2:4

'No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.'

What does this look like?  How are we entangled in the affairs of everyday life rather than just dealing with them?

Dear sister Pamelasv,

 

Grace and mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

·        “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2Timothy 2.4).

 

On 9/7/2015 at 1:02 AM, thereselittleflower said:

If you look at what Jesus and Paul had to say about marriage vs remaining unmarried, it follows the same concept.  If you get married your attention is divided between God and your spouse.   If you remain single and celibate you can single heartedly serve God and not become entangled in the affairs of life that marriage entangles you in.

 

What this excerpt is saying is exactly what Paul says in:

 

·        “But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.” (1Corinthians 7.29-31).

 

That is to say, we are not in this world so that we involve us with it, nor with their resources, but so that we let Jesus use our life (not just our body, as do demons) for show, through the circumstances and goods that are given to us, the immense wealth of His grace and truth.

Hence Paul says:

 

·        “I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2.20)

 

Summarizing: may Jesus remember us constantly that nothing on this world belongs to us, here is not our place (Colossians 3.1-4; Hebrew 11.13-16; 1Peter 2.11) and, therefore, we should never use the goods of this world to own advantage, comfort and delight. Instead of this, may Jesus empower us to live all without denying or forgetting Him:

 

·        “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” (Proverbs 30.7-9).

·        “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4.11-13).